This afternoon.
Peter writes:
Spotted on James Joyce St [Dublin 1] terrifying the young ones on way home from school…
Scenes from the Ballinasloe Horse Fair 2015.
By photographer Donal Moloney, who writes:
On a sombre October morning as our small island was waking to the tragic news that 10 members of the same extended family perished in a blazing inferno, I was already on the road to Ballinasloe and the annual horse fair. Many of the people I went on to meet that day bore more than just a connection by name to the Connors family.
Understandably the mood was a little subdued and reflective. But anyone who spends time around high spirited mares and their playful foals, miniature falabellas, working shires, ginnetts, mules and donkeys is bound to be lifted by their quirky personalities and mythical beauty. As symbols of passion, personal drive and freedom, their longstanding connection to the traveller community is a tradition worthy of preservation.
Lots of standing around is the order of the day as owners socialize, buy, sell and trade livestock. It is all fairly serene apart from the odd equine scuffle that breaks out, whinnies resounding across the bowl shaped village green. At one point a skittish mare frantically breaks loose and it’s all hands on deck as 50 men give chase, mothers and onlookers concerned about the wellbeing of the children and the horses. Luckily things are restored to order within minutes and the day returns to it’s slow dander, stretching it’s neck out with slackened reins to the slow rhythmic beat of hoof fall on dried earth.
Among the crowds are as many different characters as there are breed of horse. For some it’s following a tradition, for others it’s a business opportunity and for many “it is just a hobby” jokes Patrick Cusack. “If you gave me clubs and membership to Westport Golf club sure I wouldn’t know what to do with it.” The one thing they do have in common is their pride and their love of the horses, demonstrated by the welcoming bronze man and his 16 hand high horse standing pride of place in the village square.
Sure, it’s not perfect in every aspect but nor is any sports or social event that I have attended over the years. But as Officials for the fair are keen to point out, the standards have improved substantially year on year and the appointment of a committee across the community has certainly helped in it’s smooth running. Fair play to ya Ballinasloe for keeping the spirit of the tradition alive.
WHAT!!!
They’re the SAME person!
Photoshoppery?
Lucid dreaming?
Alchemical sorcery?
Niamh Geaney from online lookalike search group Twin Strangers writes:
Imagine meeting your doppelgänger on a College Exchange? Well that’s exactly what happened when Ciara Murphy from Wexford met Cordelia Roberts from the UK met for the first time when they moved to Bremen in Germany to study for the year.
Not knowing anyone when they arrived people started saying they looked alike. They took a photo and realised the uncanny resemblance…We hopped straight on a plane to go see for ourselves and make a video of the pair which you can view above.
Any excuse
Anything good in The Guardian this week?
“Irish law allows state-funded schools to turn away children and discriminate in enrolment on the basis of religion. Section 7(3)(c) of the Equal Status Act 2000 states that schools operated by religious institutions can favour children of their own denomination in enrolment – despite the fact they are entirely funded by taxpayers. In Ireland, about 90% of primary schools are controlled by the Catholic church (most of the remainder are under the patronage of other religious institutions), so this can fairly and accurately be called the “Catholics first” law – though in my experience most Catholics, including my close friends and relatives, consider it repugnant….”
Ireland’s ‘Catholics first’ school enrolment makes dads like me despair (Paddy Monahan, Guardian)
Instead of starting school last month, Reuben Murphy found himself back in his Dublin nursery for another year as his mother, Nikki, re-embarked on her quest to find a place at a local state primary for her four-year-old son.
She has already applied to 15 schools. But, following rejections from nine last year, Murphy is far from confident that a place will be found for Reuben. In a country where more than 90% of state schools are run by the Catholic church, unbaptised children like him are at the bottom of their admissions lists.
Previously: Educate Apart
(RollingNews)
Alternatively…
Oh.
Thanks Richard T
Being Human
at
For Oliver
at
Oliver Stanley by Conor Horgan (top) and Conor’s dedication in the Queen of ireland
Miss Panti’s just-opened documentary The Queen of Ireland is dedicated to artist and designer Oliver Stanley, who died in 1995.
Michael Le Cool writes in the current issue of Le Cool Dublin:
We never knew Oliver. We do know that the director Conor Horgan knew him and once took his portrait (above) which featured in an exhibition in the Little Museum held last year. We know many others do too because he was there before equality, before grindr, before gay politicians and sportspeople.
He was one of the designers on the first edition of Out magazine which was published here in December 1984. Its 36-page edition cost “IR60p (almost €1, without inflation) and lead with a 5-page feature on UK pop act Bronski Beat”.
We know that one of our all time heroes Tonie Walsh references him in GCN in their celebration of The George turning 30 this month. “One of my fondest memories, was going into the loft while I was working on a FAS scheme at Out magazine, and Oliver Stanley, a wonderful guy, had painted the most wonderful trompe l’oeil on the ceiling, of all of these fit homoerotic blokes playing pool.”
Being fortunate enough to be at the premiere of The Queen of Ireland in the Lighthouse Cinema on Wednesday night, we felt blessed. Surrounded by spectacular people – people who have fuelled countless ideas, shared and realised dreams, sparked moments of magic, failed miserably yet spectacularly, shouldered each other through tough times and most importantly survived. Survived to celebrate what it means to be different, to think differently, to aspire to greater things and celebrate us, our friends and all the Oliver Stanleys we may have known, wish we’d known and hope we will know because they live on. Because we are all Queens in our own right.
Yesterday: Mark Ryall’s review of The Queen of Ireland
Posters by various artists commissioned for an homage to the films of Guillermo Del Toro at 71A Gallery in London.
This morning.
Pro-Choice Activities outside the Central Bank in Dublin with the Abortion Pill Bus.
The bus will travel to Cork, Limerick and Galway today telling women how to access terminations and “putting them in touch with doctors willing to prescribe abortion pills, in a bid to force a constitutional change [repeal of the Eight Amendment]”.
(Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie)
Alternatively…
Pro-life activists at the the bus terminus stop.
(Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie)